The present device relates to a laparoscopic medical instrument, particularly those used for minimally invasive surgery. The instrument has a movable and a stationary handle portion and an extended shaft assembly with a removable actuating rod. An opening on the side of the stationary handle portion allows a user to visually confirm the removable actuating rod is locked into place within the movable handle portion. An opening in the back of the stationary handle portion allows for cleaning and visual inspection of the interior of the shaft assembly portion once the rod is removed. When disassembled for the purpose of cleaning or for changing inserts, the handle assembly remains contained within itself to prevent handle components from being lost during reprocessing. The actuating rod has a grasping mechanism for performing work during surgery. A flush port is located near the distal end of the stationary handle portion.
Laparoscopic instruments have been used by surgeons during medical procedures since around 1900. There are many advantages of laparoscopic surgery compared with open procedure. These advantages include: reduced hemorrhaging which reduces needing a blood transfusion, smaller incision which reduces pain and shortens the recovery time of the patient, reduced scarring, reduced chances of needing pain medication, reduced hospital stays and quicker return to everyday life, and reduced risk of contamination and infection. Disadvantages of a laparoscopic procedure include: limited mobility of range of motion in the surgical site, poor depth perception by the surgeon, and often laparoscopic tools do not move in the same direction as the surgeons hands.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,727,256 to McGregor discloses a surgical instrument having a shaft with a distal end portion and a proximal end portion; an operative device is disposed on the distal end portion. A hand mechanism has a first handle and a second handle and is disposed on the proximal end portion. Movement of the second handle relative to the first handle actuates the operative device. A ratchet, attached to the second handle, locks the operative device and moves with the second handle. The ratchet is pivotally attached to the second handle and pivots between a locked position and an unlocked position. A biasing device biases the ratchet toward the locked position and a release mechanism moves the ratchet from the locked position. At least one of the release mechanism and the ratchet has a feature permitting relative movement between the release mechanism and the ratchet.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,823 to Prestel discloses a surgical forceps having a jaw, with a handle consisting of two grip parts with which the one first grip part is connected to a forceps housing and the other second grip part is pivotable for opening and closing the jaw mouth, with an adjustment rod which is distally and proximally adjustable for opening and closing the jaw mouth and whose proximal end has a connection to a limb of the two limbed second grip part, and with at least one would spring element as an overload protection against the breakage of jaw parts. A particularly effective overload protection, a simple forceps construction and a small constructional size of the forceps are achieved according to the invention in that the spring element consists of a flat material wound in a serpentine manner with windings lying in one plane.
However, these patents fail to provide a laparoscopic instrument as defined in the present application. More specifically, these patents fail to define a laparoscopic instrument which has a flush port on a top end for cleaning, a locking mechanism on the handle, a viewing channel on the back end for visually verifying if the instrument is clean and for passing a brush through the interior lumen of the entire device for cleaning, a handle mechanism which is self contained, a keeper mechanism which both holds the self contained handle in a position which accommodates cleaning and sterilization and holds the self contained handle in a position which facilitates use during surgery, and an opening on the side for confirming a movable actuating rod is secured within the handle portion.